Christmas in China
by Jennifer Davidson
Whenever people ask me what it has been like to spend Christmas in a foreign country, my thoughts always fly to our three-year posting to Beijing from 1977 to 1980. An unlikely place to wax sentimental about a Christian holiday, China nevertheless gave us the most magical three Christmases our family has experienced, and much of the credit for this goes to Sheila Menzies, wife of our then ambassador to Beijing, Arthur Menzies. When I phoned our oldest daughter Emily earlier this year to inform her of Sheila's death, she immediately launched into a nostalgic recollection of the wonderful Christmas parties given at the Menzies home during our posting in China. "Mrs. Menzies really gave us a special gift, didn't she?" She and Mr. Menzies were like our grandparents while we were there, and I'll always remember the many thoughtful things she did for us." Among those many thoughtful acts was her gift of Christmas to us.
There were not many Canadians living in China at the time; there were the Canadian exchange students studying at Chinese universities, a few Canadian foreign experts, some teachers who were teaching at Chinese institutions, and Canadian Embassy personnel and their families. The Menzies excluded no one in their invitation to a Christmas dinner mid-December, and all ages were included. In their large (but not huge) apartment they squeezed in over one hundred guests to a sit-down buffet dinner, a feast of home-cooked turkey, tourtière, casseroles, pies, cookies, cakes . . . enough, in fact, to make our six-year-old son Tim declare that he was "about to burst just looking at all the good stuff."
It had taken Sheila two months to cook for, and at least four months of planning. Most of the food had to be brought in from Hong Kong, a tedious chore that necessitated much long-term planning and days of travelling by Chinese train. Added to this, she bought gifts for all the children in the Embassy, each one prettily wrapped, sorted according to age and sex, and addressed to each child by name. For our children, it was a very special treat to go to the Menzies' for the Christmas party; all dressed up, each child was made to feel like the most important guest there; somehow, between them both, Arthur and Sheila managed to notice every new bow in the hair, party shoe, jacket, pretty new dress, or interesting story.
And it wasn't just the dinner that was wonderful; somehow Sheila stuffed as many traditions as she could in that evening. The children from the little Canadian school (all twelve of them, including ours) put on a performance after dinner, and I think the Chinese members of our embassy enjoyed it more than the parents did, wistful that they were as yet not permitted by their government to bring their own families. There was the inevitable carolling around the piano, and even here the ever-organized Sheila had prepared song booklets for everyone.
There were also skits performed by Canadian staff and the much-anticipated arrival of Santa. The logistical planning for that evening must have been a nightmare, but Sheila managed to move us from one room to another with no detail overlooked nor child ignored. In fact, I remember with amusement one year her cutting one of Arthur's speeches short because she could see that the smaller children were getting restless! I'm sure there must have been exhausted moments when Sheila, like all of us when we prepare for large festive gatherings, wondered if it was worth the effort. My answer to that is a simple, resounding "Yes!" The best of all gifts, especially those given to small children, is a treasured memory.